JUNE NIELSEN

June was born March 27, 1923 to Clarabelle and Robert Sydney Bickerstaff in Jamestown, New York. She grew up in Sugar Grove, Pa. and graduated from Sugar Grove JointVocational High School in 1943.

June was an adventurer at heart and had a passion for new experiences and a constant restyling of life. She enjoyed riding her motorcycle, traveling, hiking, camping, fishing, dog mushing, flying, caring for others and working on home projects. She had a beautiful soprano voice, loved all types of music, gardening, and was an accomplished painter.

She was most proud of the family she had raised in South Bend, In., her inhome beauty salon and her service in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an airplane and engine mechanic during World War II.

In 1969 June drove to Alaska where she worked in cosmetology, the oil industry, fire suppression, and mining. In her later years she shared her time between Indiana and Alaska with family and friends.

June sustained complications from a fall in 2008 while gardening at her home in South Bend, and moved back to Alaska to be closer to her daughter, sister, and other family members. June was surrounded by family and friends that loved her dearly when she passed after a long fight with medical issues. She will be missed by the fortunate she touched with her energy and zeal for life.

June was preceded in death by her parents; brother Rodney Bickerstaff; sisters Anita Moon, Betty Albright, and Jean Liffner; sons Timothy and William Gale; late husbands Joseph Cook, Chester P Gale and Gerald D Nielsen.

Visitation will be held on Friday, June 21st from 48 p.m. at Hanley and Sons “Southwest Chapel” Funeral Home. Funeral services will take place on Saturday, June 22nd at 11:00 a.m. at the Funeral Home. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery with military honors.

The HANLEY & Sons “Southwest Chapel” Funeral Home, located at West Ireland Road/State Road 23 handled local arrangements and services and extends its deepest sympathy and heartfelt prayers to the Nielsen family.